Mike Smith .... Performing Rhythm & Rhyme - With Time for a Song

Turning over the daily soil of experience ....... in performance

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

An early April Saturday morning.

Just a hint of something in the air ...

Just a sense that it will not be long ...

Just a feel of warmth upon the skin ...

Just a breath of Summer's silent song ...

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Monday, 1st April, 2024

When you can’t find ‘the words’ ...

Evening Light

Seven fifteen in the evening Not a cloud in the sky He sits and looks through the window Quietly wondering why …

Why does he feel so excited? Almost 'born again'? One extra hour of evening light - And he is the happiest of men!

But the more he searches for words The less he finds he can write And so he just sits there in silence Bathed in his evening delight!

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

🎶

A memory from the 1950s!

~

And so, whilst rhyming in the rain

Down Parsons Lane, today

‘Just Walking In The Rain’ returns -

That song by Johnny Ray

Holding no significance

It’s just a trick of the brain

Prompting this old heartbreak song

Whilst walking in the rain

🎶

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

A Wish ...

Sometimes a wish is all we have ...

And so for Palestine

I wish them fresh spring daisies

And perpetual summer time ...

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Wednesday, 12th March, 2024

Based on an anecdote about ‘Grandad’s glasses’, told to us in our shop, this morning.

Her Grandad's old glasses still lay there There on the bench where he died A few days ago, whilst making a shelf... She stood in the door-way and sighed

It seems he'd collapsed without warning There by his bench in the shed Overwhelmed by the fact of his absence She smiled at what Grandad once said

"In here there's room for everything So everything has its place And here is where I put my glasses - When they need a rest from my face!"

The glasses would stay where he put them 'Having a rest', as he said Maybe the last thing that Grandad had done As he worked at his bench in the shed.

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Early this morning.

That's the thing with violets No sign of them ... and then Out of the blue - a surprise of blue! The violets are back again

Modest, shrinking violets Almost embarrassed to grow Determined, nevertheless, to appear At the Annual Violet Show!

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Wednesday, 5th January, 2022

Walking by Howden Minster, this morning.

The flood of the sun On the old of the stone The lift and the life of the bright The stand still and gaze On the ancient of days The shock and the wonder of light

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Thursday, 30th December, 2021

Even a pretty standard morning sunrise begs a response ...

Is it worth a pic? he thought This early morning sky? From click to pic in moments And then the question 'Why?' Once, he would have wondered ... Stood alone to gaze Marvelling at this beauty The mystery of days Once, he would have trembled ... Fire burning bright Heavenly salvation Vanquishing the night Once, he would have quaked ... To see the setting sun To fear the loss of light To know the day was done Once upon a time ... Long ... long ago ... And still he's moved to take a pic ... Why? He doesn't know ... Language is not adequate How else to respond? Take the pic ... Then contemplate ... The Wonder of Beyond ...

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Wednesday, 29th December, 2021

Early morning music whilst walking down Parsons Lane ... Sing on little blackbird Sing us your song Sing us wherever you are Sing us your future Sing us forever You musical superstar Sing on little blackbird With rippling thrill Sing us your story again Sing of existence Of nesting and rebirth Somewhere ... In this tree ... In this rain ... ... this morning.

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Wednesday, 27th October, 2021

What's poetry all about? Henceforth, my answer is 'I don't know' ... But there are particular features, of course.

I might start using that old word 'poesy - the art and practice of writing poetry'. That dodges the question very satisfactorily!

It’s the tug and the pull of a moment

The lingering whisp of a thought

The float of a memory

The shape of a wish

The catch and the hold of a dream

It’s the show and the tell of a story

The laugh of an everyday joke

The ache of a truth

The shift of a view-point

The lilt of the sing of a song

It’s the turn and the craft of the language

The right and the wrong of the word

The flow of the rhythm

The thrill of precision

The know when it’s time for a rhyme

It’s the craft and create of a journey

The mystery trip of the mind

The losing of logic

The never quite knowing

The wonder of what you might find …

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Wednesday, 20th October, 2021

As someone who is 'driven' to write, and feels 'at home' there, I like talk/conversation as much as the next person, but ... ~ You know when talk won't work? Makes partial sense at best? When language doesn't flow? When thoughts stay unexpressed? Well that's when silence pays Silence sets things right Whispers through the noise of talk - "Stop ... think ... write ..." Sometimes takes an age to start - And stop ... and start again Until you find that perfect flow ... It happens - now and then! ~ For some people it is art ... for some it's music ... dance ... a whole range of media through which thought can find its expressive voice.

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Thursday, 16th September, 2021

It isn't simply 'bird-song' Stops me in my tracks

It’s a blackbird ‘making music’

In this tree

Rich and throaty gorgeousness Deep, dark, bubbling beauty... Stand awhile …

And let this music be ...

Soak up every moment ... Feel the transformation ... Knowing that within this tree …

Somewhere ...

Accompanied by the splintering sun Glistening through the leaves A blackbird's music thrills

The morning air

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Wednesday, 5th May, 2021

~

An accidental noticing

A moment of surprise

Hedgerow flowering beauty

For unexpecting eyes

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Wednesday, 5th May, 2021

~

And still he stands

Alone in the sun

Robin now perched on his hat

The game is a memory

Over and out

Echoing softly - 'How's That!!'

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Tuesday, 4th May, 2021

This is something of an experiment in trying to unpack a moment of experience, the ‘moment’ in this case being a line in the sixth verse from the end - ‘Shocked by what he sees’.

~

It’s very long - more like a ‘story’ ...

~

In leaving the car at the garage

I’ve an hour or so to fill ...

The Supermarket’s handy ...

Do I or don’t I? I will ...

~

Road to be crossed.

Stop at the kerb.

Look for the button.

Find the said button.

Press the said button.

Red. ‘Don’t Walk’.

Waiting for green.

Clearance to walk.

~

Lorries grumbling past ...

Rhythmic flowing cars ...

Now and then a bus …

Green. OK to go.

~

But still the basic instinct.

Look right.

Look left.

Look right.

Nervously dependent.

Clear!

Off we go.

Looking right.

Looking left.

Cautiously uncertain.

Checking every which way.

‘Just in case’.

~

Gain a place of safety.

Island in the sun.

Button duly pressed.

Stand. Watch. Wait.

~

Nothing coming.

Empty road.

Cross it anyway?

Should he ...?

Dare he ...?

Risk his judgement ...?

Independence Day?

~

Button gives permission.

Green.

He’s free to walk.

Still that need.

To check.

Both ways.

‘Just in case’.

~

Safely on the footpath ...

Lorries grumble on ...

Rhythmic flow of cars ...

Now and then a bus …

~

Wander through the car-park ...

Thoughts of yesteryear

Early teenage school-days

Lived not far from here …

~

This we knew as Dairycoates

Never quite clear why

All it meant to me was -

I caught the bus nearby …

~

Outside the corner shop

Forget the owner’s name

East Yorkshire bus to Hull

Every … day … the same ...

~

Those days of Buddy Holly …

Of Eddie Cochran, too ...

Of colour films like ‘Distant Drums’…*

Plus Elvis  … You-Know-Who!

~

Anyway - the supermarket ...

Mask on. Sanitise ...

Thirty-minute visit ...

Reflect on enterprise ...

~

Customer friendly.

Warehouse of plenty.

Aisles of convenience.

Needs, wants and extras.

Shelves of sufficiency.

Paradise of Plastic.

Packaged persuasion.

Product perfection.

Placement precision.

In-store.

For you.

~

Check-out.

Conveyor.

Basket.

Of items.

Organise items.

Smiling and small talk.

Two-bag requirement.

Contactless card.

Wafted and waiting.

Payment ‘Approved’.

Loyalty acknowledged.

Smile, Thanks and Go.

~

Pleasant experience ...

Easy enough ...

Into the car-park

Warm Spring breeze

Car-glisten sunshine

Comings and goings

Stroll down the foot-path

Back to the garage

Pick up the car -

If ready ...

~

Road to cross.

Again.

Lorries grumbling past ...

Rhythmic flowing cars ...

Now and then a bus …

~

Press the button.

Green. ‘Walk’!

But just in case.

You never know.

Look right.

And left.

And right.

~

Safe upon the island.

Lorries grumbling past .

Rhythmic flowing cars.

Now and then a bus.

~

Protocols observed.

Green Pedestrian light.

Now the final crossing.

Looking left and right.

~

Secure upon the path, he stops

Shocked by what he sees

A green and whispering silence

Of bushes … grasses … trees ...

~

Purposefully growing

In a rich and deep profusion ...

A city suburbs tapestry

Of wonder-full confusion …

~

He stands for just a moment

Absorbs the silent scene

Nearly cries with pleasure

At this vibrant world of green

~

Why such soothing solace

To his unexpecting eye?

Why the wish to stand here

And let the world roll by?

~

He has no packaged answers

No simple explanation

He only knows it offers him

A kind of consolation

~

Overgrown with naturalness …

Beautiful … Sublime …

The Engine Sheds at Dairycoates - **

Once upon a time.

~

*   I remember seeing the poster for this film on an A-Board outside the shop, whilst waiting for the bus to school. It was a Western film, starring Gary Cooper.

** This was my understanding of the name at the time. As a teenager I wasn’t too worried about name-place accuracy! It was out of sight, behind a fence and trees; I just thought of it as Dairycoates - something to do with railways, sheds and engines.

[mikesmithrhythmandrhyme]

Monday, 30th November, 2020

With 'plagues' in mind ... Words (and pics, for that matter) are fascinating, but I'm not always a good judge of sensitivities. Hey Ho! ~ Today I thought of Samuel Pepys - A rather ticklish issue - For I had found a pimple 'pon my knee In other words - a pustule! Proclaim it to the world? Or keep it private twixt old Sam and me? ~ Would Samuel Pepys have used this word? Forsooth, I trust he did He'd write things in his diary every day And would he post on Facebook? I'm pretty sure he would Ensuring they were published, come what may! ~ But 'pustule'! It's a wonder word It sounds the thing it is 'Pimple' lacks the fullness of effect Samuel Pepys, a 'pustule' man (With 'pimples' here and there) This morning's 'spot' has helped me reconnect. ~ The little white bit in the middle has more or less gone in the photo. Damn - it was too quick for me!!